A winding and inserting apparatus of the above kind is described e.g. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,221,243 and 4,265,012. In those specifications, the transport mechanism for the insertion tools is a rotary table with a vertical axis whereby said insertion tools are transported, rotating in a circle, between a winding station, an insertion station, and a third station. At said third station, insulating strips (i.e. so-called covering strips) for closing stator slots can be introduced into ducts bounded by the tongues of the insertion tools. Said third station can be before or after said winding station in the direction of movement of the rotary table or of another suitable conveyor (e.g. a belt conveyor) according to choice.
Owing to the fine processing which their many parts require, insertion tools are comparatively expensive relative to the cost of the entire apparatus. Normally, a winding and inserting apparatus is allocated a plurality of inter-changeable sets of different insertion tools. An object of the present invention is to simplify known apparatus of the kind specified so as to enable a smaller number of insertion tools to be provided.